Chicago

Graham Adams, Jr., is a professor of American history at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick.

Chicago has attracted, repelled, and fascinated people for many decades.
Claude Morneau’s book gives us a succinct history of and guide to this
many-faceted metropolis.

Chicago has always acted as the hub of America. All railroads, Morneau
notes, seem to meet in the city and all the country’s produce seems to
pass through its portals. O’Hare ranks as the busiest airport in the
world. Steel and meatpacking once dominated the city’s commerce; its
stockyards sometimes penned 115,000 animals at one time. Today retail,
medical, communications, government, education, and tourist services
form the basis of its economy. Over the years Chicago’s central
location enabled it to host 20 major political conventions and to
witness nominations of 10 U.S. presidents.

A great fire in 1871 destroyed some 18,000 buildings and produced an
estimated $200 million in damages, but it also provided an unparalleled
opportunity for urban planning and redevelopment. The city evolved into
an experimental laboratory for architectural innovation, ultimately
emerging as one of the world leaders in modern architecture )exemplified
by the brilliant contributions of Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright,
and Mies van der Rohe).

Morneau’s guide surveys Chicago’s cultural institutions (art
galleries, museums, orchestras, libraries, and universities), lists
numerous hotels, restaurants, clubs, and bars (informing us of their
price ranges and ambiance), and offers excellent suggestions for walking
tours as well as advice on shopping opportunities. The author achieves
his goal of exploring this “city of a thousand faces, a city that is
both rough and refined, chaotic and pleasant, multicultural and
all-American.”